Buckle.



W. A, HOLDEN. BUCKLE.

A'PPLIOATIOH FILED JAN. 18, 1909.

996,248. Patentd- June 27, 1911,

" of the buckle a WALTER A. HOLDEN, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROBERT N. BASSETT COMPANY, OF SHEL'ION, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUI'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER A. HOLDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

Hy invention relates to buckles of the class designed to carry the extremity of a webbing and to operate along the running portion of the latter to form an adjustable loop; and its object is to provide a device of this character having a plurality of pivoted members arranged to fold on each other into interlocking relation for the purpose of con fining the adjustable port-ion of the webbing.

With this principal object in view my invention consists in the details of construction and manner of operation more fully set forth in the following description and accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to corresponding parts.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front view portion of the front and the attached webbing being shown broken away; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse section taken through the middle of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a rear view of the buckle showing the front raised; Fig. 4, a side view of the buckle in its open position; Fig. 5, a rear view of a further modification showing the front raised, and Fig. 6, a vertical section taken on line w-w in Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4; the buckle comprises an open frame A, having a web carrying member or body portion B pivotally mounted on its lower side, and a front or shield G swung from its upper side. The frame 'A is preferably made out of a single piece of wire bent to form an opening suitable for the passage of webbing and comprises an upper side a, ends 6, Z) and a lower side in the form of pintles c, c. The body portion or web carrying member B in this particular instance is made out of a sheet metal plate having its top edge curled into a bead (Z and provided at its lower extremity with pintle sockets e, e in which are journaled the pintles c, c of the frame A. The lower edge of the plate B is turned up between the pintle sockets e, e to form a stop f which serves as an abutment for the adjacent ends of the pintles thereby preventing relative transverse movement between the Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 18, 1909.

Patented June 27, 1911. Serial No. 472,802.

frame A and web carrying member B. The sides of the plate B are provided at their upper extremities with laterally projecting lugs g, g which serve as stops for the ends 6, b of the frame when the buckle is closed. J ournaled to swing on the upper side a of the frame is the front or shield C the upper edge of which is preferably curled around the frame member a; to form a friction roller h. To web the buckle the same may be opened as shown in Fig. 4:. The free extremity z of the webbing D is first passed forwardly through the opening in the frame A and over the top (Z of the web carrying member B, then carried downwardly and returned on itself, then passed again forwardly through the opening in the frame A and over the top (Z of the web carrying member B underneath the portion already threaded and is then stitched upon itself below the web carrying member B forming a terminal loop in the webbing secured to or carried by the web carrying member B. The buckle webbed in this manner forms an adjustable loop in the running portion of the webbing suitable for carrying a castoff Z or other attachment.

hen the buckle is open, as shown in Fig. 4, the running portion may pass freely through the frame to adjust the length of the loop and thereby raise and lower the cast-off Z. hen the buckle is closed, however, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the running portion of the Webbing is clamped between the underside of the upper member a of the frame and the top (Z of the web carrying member B, or to be more exact between the sleeve h incasing the top member a and that portion of the extremity i of the webbing covering the top (Z of the web carrying member B. The running portion of the webbing is held close to the front of the buckle by the front or shield C which latter is held down in place by the frictional engagement incident to the clamping action between the sleeve it and the underlying webbing. When the webbing D is under stress there is a downward pull on the web carrying member B which is taken by the pintles c, 0, and an upward pull on the upper member a of the frame A. The wire forming the frame A is of sufficient stiffness to resist these strains but may be of sufficient resiliency to yield slightly in closing the buckle over the webbing. This yielding action not only enables the buckle to be used on webbing of varying thickness but also effects a more secure and positive clamping action. \Vhen the webbing is under stress there is a tendency to turn the web carrying member B on its pivot rearwardly through the opening in the frame member A, thus the buckle will close itself when the webbing is put under stress, the stops on the web carrying member B determining the throw or relative position of these two parts. To open the buckle the front C is turned up causing the sleeve h to roll rearwardly on the webbing thereby upsetting the clamping arrangement.

In the particular arrangement herein I have described the manner of holding the running portion of the webbing as resulting from a clamping action but it is obvious that my invention comprehends holding the webbing by effecting an engagement between the parts unaccompanied by any clamping action, which engagement is commonly known in buckles strung in this manner as holding by deflection. It will also be observed that when the buckle is in use the back is covered with webbing and the upper and lower reaches may be disposed in vertical alinement to produce an eflect styled in the trade as rustless.

In the form of my buckle above described the running portion of the webbing is locked in its adjust-ed position by being engaged by a portion of the front or shield.

This is not essential, however, as the engaging member may be an integral part of the frame proper, a particular example being shown in Figs. 5 and 6 in which the frame A has its upper side a flattened to form the downwardly projecting serrated web engaging edge a. The top of the front G is cut away to permit the front to turn on the upper side a sufficient lengths being left on each side of the cut away portion to form the pintle straps 7?. Otherwise this modification is of the same construction and is webbed in the same manner as the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive.

It is evident from the above disclosures that I do not regard my invention as being restricted to any specific means for fastening the running portion of the webbing, provided the three pivoted members otherwise cooperate as above pointed out; and my invention is susceptible of still further modification comprehending such broad features as fairly come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having now I claim and Patent is:

A buckle comprising a frame having an upper side, a lower side and an opening between them, and a web attaching member hinged to the lower side and arranged to have its top portion swing rearwardly into the opening in under the upper side when the buckle is closed, combined with a webbing having its extremityfolded over the top of said web attaching member and its running portion passed downwardly in back of the buckle, then returned on itself passing upwardly in front of the lower side and through the opening in under the top side, and a front member hinged to the upper side described my invention what desire to protect by Letters and arranged to swing downwardly against the front of said running portion of the webbing.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of January, 1909.

WVALTER A. HOLDEN.

Witnesses:

ADA M. GEsNER, MARGARET E. BAXTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

